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The present invention relates to a method and device for treating aneurysms, and in particular, to a method involving the use of cryogenically cooled devices to cold treat tissue.
Aneurysms are distensions formed by the localized dilation of the wall of an artery, a vein, or the heart. An aneurysm balloons due to the pressure of blood flowing through an area weakened due to disease, injury, or congenital defect. A xe2x80x9ctruexe2x80x9d or common aneurysm results from the formation of a sac by the arterial wall, or tunica media, which remains unbroken, and may be associated with atherosclerosis. In a xe2x80x9cfalsexe2x80x9d or dissecting aneurysm, usually caused by trauma, a fissure in the wall of a blood vessel allows blood to escape into surrounding tissues and form a clot.
Doctors typically monitor the inflammation and progression of aneurysms using devices known in the art such as MRI and CT scanners and by observation of known patient symptoms. Typically, however, early stage aneurysms do not warrant dangerous surgical procedures, even if minimally invasive, due to the associated morbidity risk. Accordingly, the doctors choose a xe2x80x9cwait and seexe2x80x9d approach. Because surgery for aneurysms is risky, the surgeon may wait for the aneurysm to expand to a certain size before operating, when the risk of complications exceeds the risk of surgery. Accordingly, it would be desirable to treat aneurysms upon early detection rather than wait until they progress to a stage that requires dangerous, expensive surgery, or become life-threatening conditions.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a device, coupled with a minimally invasive method, to retard, arrest and even reverse, the processes that lead to aneurysm formation.
A method is disclosed for treating an aneurysm, including the steps of cooling a target tissue region of the aneurysm to a predetermined temperature for a preselected time period. A method is also disclosed for thickening, strengthening, or increasing the density of a blood vessel wall, including the steps of cooling the blood vessel wall to a temperature below body temperature. In particular, a method is disclosed for treating an aneurysm, including the steps of: (i) providing a device having a heat conductive cooling chamber; (ii) disposing the cooling chamber proximate to the aneurysm; and (iii) directing the flow of cryogenic fluid inside the chamber to create endothermic cooling relative to the aneurysm. Finally, a method is disclosed for promoting growth of collagen and elastin in vascular tissue, including the steps of cooling the tissue for a predetermined period of time to a temperature below body temperature for a preselected time period.